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Bulgaria has completed the first phase of a 20-mile border fence to hold back
a flood of Syrian refugees that has overwhelmed the country’s asylum system.

As Britain faces criticism for its efforts to curb an expected influx of
Bulgarians and Romanians next year, authorities in Sofia are fighting their
own immigration battle.

More than 11,000 people, mainly Syrians fleeing the country’s civil war, have
illegally crossed Bulgaria’s porous frontier with Turkey this year, forcing
the Government to turn former schools and army camps into makeshift
detention centres.

On Thursday, the Government said it expected the fence, which will run